Finding Real Friends among the Imagined (Tag: Karissa)

As Twyla explored her new home, she had found this lovely, quaint little bookstore with a wide selection of books. Excited by the idea of finding some new adventures and friends inside the written pages of the books housed inside, Twyla had quickly ducked inside to take a look around. It was a beautiful site; so many shelves full of books all categorized into their various genres and fields of study. She started in the poetry section and casually read the many titles and authors as she ran her fingers lightly over the rounded and flat spines of the books. It was such a comforting feeling; the knowledge that thousands upon thousands of topics were right at her finger tips. Each book quietly whispered it's secrets to her in an attempt to make her open up the pages and being reading.

As she read the titles Twyla carefully noted what she had read, hadn't read, wanted to read and would consider reading at a later date. In this manner, Twyla worked her way through Arts and Culture, History, Music, Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy until she finally ended up in the Horror section. She often ended up in this section. This section was where she spent the most time and where things got 'serious'. Selecting the perfect collection of horror stories with the right amount of suspense, gore and supernatural occurrences took a considerable amount of time and thought. At least that's how Twyla felt. As she gazed up at the many books, Twyla crossed her arms and tapped her chin as she tried to decide what one she wanted to look at first. She was so absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't even hear the ringing of the bell ontop of the door to signify that another customer had walked in.

When walking around the bookstore, she was staring to look for some books regarding air bending that she needed to look up just in case her trainer, Clarion could be asking her to train with her again to see what she learned from them. She never found a store that was this big before and thought that this place had everything. Elite definitely had the best beach to meditate in, places to eat, and now a bookstore where people can just read to relax. She saw that there were many genres of books to read including some information about air bending, which was a good sign. She then started to take out some books to look at, and started to look for a chair to sit down on to gather some information. While looking, she found some girl looking around in the horror section. She steps into the section as well and looked at some titles and thought that reading a good story about suspense can get her mind out of studying for a little while. "Hm..what to get.." she said to herself, and gazed at the section. She then turned towards the other female; "A lot of good sections, right?"

"Hmmm?" Twyla had been so involved in her own thoughts that she almost missed what the other girl was asking her. She didn't even notice the other girl's presence until she started speaking. "Oh, yes. It's lovely to have such variety but with that comes the burden of choice which can be rather intimidating. It's almost like looking at a box of chocolates." Twyla said as she looked at the other girl. She looked nice enough, friendly and she seemed like an avid reader as well. Twyla gave the other girl a small smile before returning to the bookshelves and her personal musings. Finally, she sighed and picked out two collections of horror; 'The Blumhouse Collection of Horror Stories: The Haunted City' and 'Nightmare Fuel: The Ultimate of Horror Stories'.

When Karissa saw her looking at the books, she could tell that she'll be one of those readers who does have a strong hobby of collecting a lot of them and reading a lot. She looked at the high number of books as well, and there was a lot to choose from. She looked at the books as well, and she did like her comparison to picking out out a book like picking at a box of chocolates. "Having a variety is the best part of everything, especially when trying to pick out something to read to either pass the time, or just picking out something for fun. If not liking one book, switch to the next." She comments, and goes back to the shelf to pick out something. "So, I guess horror is your favorite book genre? I like any type of books since I read just to relax and at the same time, learn from the character's point of view; doesn't matter what genre or author." She asked, with a little comment. She saw the girl giving her a small smile and she shoots one in return. She then picks out "The Edger Allen Poe collection". "There, here is something to look at. Have you heard of this guy? I heard of him being a classic when it comes to writing horror." She said, as she showed her the book. She then saw her picking out two books that looked interesting. "Hmm..Blumhouse Collection and Nightmare Fuel. They both sound very interesting indeed. Tell me on how you like them." She said, and looks for a chair to start reading. "Oh, I'm Karissa by the way." She said, while looking for someplace to sit.

Twyla gave the other girl her full attention as she listened to the other girl's opinions and nodded in agreement. "That is true." She said thoughtfully. When asked if horror was her favorite genre, Twyla tilted her head and furrowed her brow as she thought of the appropriate and honest response. "It is one of my favorite genres. I just find that the selection of the perfect horror story takes more time and thought than other kinds of books. One has to find the correct balance of suspense, gore, fear and paranatural or supernatural elements. Too much of one element creates an unenjoyable encounter, at least in my experience." Twyla said as she watched the other girl select her book.

She couldn't help smiling a little wider when she saw the other girl's choice. Edgar Allen Poe, a classic indeed. Not only a wondrous writer of horror and suspense but also considered the inventor of detective fiction, not that many people would know that. "I've heard of him. Edgar has always been one of my favorites." The way Twyla said 'Edgar' so softly and quietly was reminiscence of how someone might say the name of their crush or even, lover.

Twyla nodded and glanced down at the two books she was holding. She had read Blumhouse before as she had borrowed it once from her library back home. Since then, she had been looking for a copy to claim as her own. As for Nightmare Fuel, well it had just looked interesting. "Blumhouse is good, my favorite story is 'Dreamland', I believe it's called." When Karissa introduced herself, Twyla realized that she had neglected to give the other girl her name as well. "Oh yes, introductions. My name is Twyla, Twyla Dolan. It's a pleasure to meet you Karissa."

When Karissa was looking around in the store, she saw that the other female was agreeing with her opinion on comparing the place to a box of chocolate, in other words, so many books, one decision, which of course was pretty tough to just pick one out of all the books was there. "Yeah, it sure is. I'm not that really picky when it comes to picking out something though." She said, with a small grin and when she heard that her favorite was horror, she starts to nod. "Oh, wow. I like horror as well since it does have a lot of suspense and to be fair, I like them a lot too. I feel like those books, whenever I read them make them feel like I'm on the edge of my seat and its really fun to get scared." She mentioned and remembered getting scared one when she was reading one of the Edger Allen Poe stories. "It makes you think who's going to get killed next and if the protagonist will either get killed in the end, or kill the killer." She said, and she started to glance at the book collection that she got out. She then looked at the young woman who smiled at the book that she got and assumed that he was one of her favorite authors as well. She did have to write a paper about his stories once, and although it did take a while, it was a good way to pass the time. "Oh, you like him too? Awesome. Which one was your favorite story from him? My personal favorite was "The Raven."" She asked, as she brought up a conversation about this famous guy. She then looked at the books that the girl was holding and she thought that it did look interesting. "I believe I heard of Blumhouse. I have to check it out sometime." She comments, and gazes at the name so, she can remember it next time she goes to the bookstore. Karissa then turned around when she heard her name being "Twyla." "Oh, nice name, and it's nice to meet you as well." She responds, and as she looked around for a seat, she found two. "Hey, Twyla, I found two chairs for us to read at!" She called out, and sat down.

Twyla nodded as Karissa told her why she enjoyed horror so much, the other girl's feelings mirrored a lot of her own feelings when reading the darkened tales of blood and death. There was nothing like reading a gripping story alone at night and just before you went to sleep. "Or, when the protagonist turns out to be the killer. I always liked those ones best because they are often unexpected." Twyla remarked.

She cocked her head to the side as she thought about which story by Edgar Allen Poe was her favorite. "I think my favorites are 'The Oval Portrait' and 'The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar'. They are not exactly 'horror stories' but there is something haunting about them both, one being hauntingly beautiful and sad, the other being hauntingly humorous." Twyla said as she followed Karissa to the two chairs. Carefully and with an extreme sense of poise, Twyla sat down in the chair beside Karissa. She pressed gently on the back of it and on the cushion of the chair before allowing herself to relax into the chair. Once Twyla was settled, she turned back to Karissa. "How often do you read horror? If you don't mind me asking, that is." She asked.

When she saw the young female nodding when she was telling her about why she admired horror than any other genre, she could tell that this young lady and her were going to have an interesting conversation on this, at least she was glad that she did find someone in common to talk with. She did agree with her comment on the protagonist being the killer the whole entire time, which could add a good twist to the story. "Yeah, I know. I mean, there should be more stories like that with a suprised ending." She remarked, and tried to think of stories where the main "hero" is the antagonist without the reading even knowing. She then heard Twyla's favorite stories by him and she nods, as those were one of the top stories on her personal list. "Oh, I know that one, I had to those two for school, pretty worth the reading." She comments, and remembered her being the only one that was excited while the rest of the class moaned. "Oh, I know, adding a little bit of humor a horror story.. I could see working." She comments, and finds the girl sitting down next to her. She then heard her question regarding her reading horror on a daily basis; Karissa thought about her answer for a moment, and tapped on her chin, as she tried to remember the last time she read something in that category. "Well, not too long ago, I did read a good horror novel. I believe it was, "Jaws.." Have you heard of that one? I heard comments that after reading the book and seeing the movie, people did not want to go to the beach again!" She responded, thinking that a book involving a shark eating people on a beautiful beach could be classified as "Horror."